Serving as stooges of the Kremlin

Mark Sumner of Daily Kos reported that Biden has asked his campaign staff to increase the attention of the crazy stuff the nasty guy says in public. He requested that because media is so willing to give the nasty guy a pass, no matter how dangerous his words. Sumner wrote: “If the media won’t do its job, Biden will have to do it for them.” Another aspect of the media not doing its job:

There’s a frequent refrain, even in comments on Daily Kos, that people don’t want to hear about Trump. They’re tired of seeing his face. Tired of hearing his threats. The New York Times insists that there is an “anti-Trump burnout” with progressive voters all crisised out. It’s a perfect excuse to go even harder on … going softer on Trump.

But we can’t do that and can’t let that happen because the nasty guy is “planning to end democracy, abandon America’s allies, and create a fascist regime that draws from the worst of North Korea meets ‘Handmaid’s Tale.’ ” So Biden is correct in asking his campaign staff to keep the nasty guy’s worst statements before the public, whether or not the media catches on. Sumner asks us to do the same. A few days before the South Carolina primary former SC governor Nikki Haley gave a press conference on the “state of the race.” Just before a big defeat is a good time to drop out of the race for president. Kerry Eleveld of Kos reported Haley didn’t do that. Instead, she spent most of the press conference taking shots at the nasty guy.

In any normal presidential primary contest in any normal party, Haley would have been forced to drop out shortly after New Hampshire because she can't show donors any reasonable path to victory. But Haley continues to defy political gravity because her virulently anti-Trump donors can't get enough of her shredding Trump. Forget the delegate math: The money keeps rolling in. Haley started 2024 with roughly $14.5 million cash on hand and, earlier this month, her campaign reported bringing in another $16.5 million despite a lackluster third-place finish in the first-in-the-nation caucus in Iowa. Haley's fundraising strength is yet another data point demonstrating the electorate's visceral hate for Trump, even among voters who lean conservative.

Another round of highlighting the horrible things Republicans are doing. Joan McCarter of Kos reported shortly after the news of the death of Russian dissident Alexi Navalny American Republicans started their condemnation of Putin.

But so far it’s only Democrats who are talking about actually opposing Putin through assistance to Ukraine in fighting off his invasion. They’re pointing out that Republicans are doing Putin’s dirty work. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was characteristically blunt: “House members blocking critical aid to Ukraine can revel in another high-five for Putin who just murdered his most vocal and visible critic.”

Put up or shut up. Walter Einenkel of Kos reported that 13 Republican senators released a letter demanding that when they get back from their holiday next week they want the Senate to promptly take up the trial of impeached Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. That’s even though a few federal departments run out of money on March 1. Also, it’s all political theater. Sumner wrote that much of the Republican platform is act on every whim of the nasty guy, as in short of ideas. But they do have a few ideas. A few terrible ideas. There’s book banning that even DeathSantis is beginning to realize is a disaster. They want to make a stink about pronouns, pride flags, and transgender people. And all that nonsense over being anti-“woke.” Sumner reported one problem: The 2022 and 2023 elections showed voters, even many conservative voters, don’t like those ideas. Voters were interested in the economy and national security, not in anti-“woke.” But since “woke” can be defined as anything they want it to be some Republicans will keep trying. A state rep. in Idaho is against federal funds for rural internet because it is woke.

If they can't win on woke, Republicans can always go back to their sure winners, like the 14 states that refused money to feed hungry school children, the 26 states that refused additional federal unemployment benefits during the pandemic, a push to raise drug prices, and the brilliant idea to eliminate not student loan debt, but student loans. Join Republicans in keeping Americans broke, hungry, uneducated, and unable to buy the medications they need! That’s a little long to fit on a yard sign, but they can workshop it. If that’s not too woke.

Eleanor Klibanoff and William Melhado, in an article for the Texas Tribune posted on Kos, reported that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wants to test the legal principle of “extraterritoriality — when and whether a state can impose its laws beyond its borders.” There is also the well-established right to travel. The laws against it are enforced through private lawsuits. That’s a legal loophole the Supremes have allowed to stand. What Paxton is doing is demanding medical records from at least two clinics in other states that provide gender-affirming care to minors. Even if the demands are refused – and they are – it is a way to intimidate those clinics and the Texas families seeking their services. A big attempt at extraterritoriality was the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which demanded free states return escaped slaves. That pushed the nation to the Civil War, and didn’t end well. There are differences in state laws. Most of the time states work together for a common solution. Or, as in the case of casino’s across the state line, they ignore it. There are also laws common to all states – all prohibit murder and child abuse. But only recently have states disagreed so sharply. Some states say abortion is murder. Others don’t. Some states say gender-affirming care is a life-saving way to help a person be who they are. Other states call it a “social contagion.” States do not have to help other states with investigations. And some, like Washington state, now have “shield laws” that say health care workers (for abortions or gender care) do not have to help with investigations from other states and are prohibited from sharing patient info even when given a subpoena. An issue is that freedom to travel and extraterritoriality are well established principles, but they haven’t been before courts very often, so there isn’t a lot of precedent. Hard to tell what a conservative court will do. Sumner reported the attempt to dig up enough dirt on Biden to enable impeaching him continues. Yesterday, the president’s brother James sat for a closed door hearing (did he learn nothing from his nephew Hunter?). The reason for the hearing is Joe loaned $200K to James. Two months later James paid Joe back. That’s it. I haven’t heard what lies Republicans are spinning from that. Sumner reviews the whole history of this impeachment attempt, including the latest developments. I’ll give just the highlights. Back in 2019 Giuliani went to Ukraine to dig up dirt. He did but only the New York Times would publish it. Bloomberg dispatched a reporter and quickly saw it was all lies. The FBI had an FD-1023 form that supposedly validated Giuliani’s story. Except an FD-1023 is not evidence and was contradicted by public records. Last week Alexander Smirnov, the guy behind the FD-1023, was charged with lying and creating false records. He also admitting to having recent contacts with Russian spies.

So, Republicans have not only spent the last year pressing an investigation of the president’s son largely instigated by a document that turns out to have been tailor-made for them by Russian intelligence, they opened an impeachment inquiry with a Russian agent as the “heart” of their investigation.

But Republicans claim finding their source is a liar doesn’t alter the “fundamental facts.” Lev Parnas, a Giuliani buddy, is saying that Republicans knew way back in 2020 the FD-1023 was a lie. An old question has come back: What did they know and when did they know it? Another part of this investigation has to do with Hunter and claims of cocaine. But the photo shows sawdust near a table saw.

A Russian agent. A fake document. A pile of sawdust. That’s what Republicans have to show for their big investigation.

Eleveld added a summary. First is a tweet by Asha Rangappa:

For real, can we recap: Sitting members of Congress initiated IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS against a U.S. President based on information passed to them by an agent of Russian intelligence. Same members refuse to pass aid to Ukraine. Same members defend Trump.

Then Eleveld:

It's not just that congressional Republicans like House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer and veteran GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa spouted disinformation from a Russian mole: It's that the claim made by the Russian mole was laughable on its face. ... But now that Smirnov has been indicted and revealed as a Russian agent, Republicans are trying to triage their impeachment inquiry instead of backing away from their disgraced probe of an American president whom they are smearing for political gain. ... Totally absent from this Republican debacle is any sense of contrition for their roles serving as stooges of the Kremlin in spreading a mountain of lies about a sitting U.S. president. Comer, Grassley, and others should be fighting off calls for their resignations after betraying the country. Instead, the impeachment show must go on for Republicans. Otherwise they will have no means by which to uncover and spread more Russian disinformation about their political rival, Joe Biden.

In a pundit roundup for Kos Chitown Kev quoted Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo. That whole Hunter Biden laptop story was absurd and obviously a Russian influence operation. So why did everyone fall for it? So they’re now shocked that yes, it was from Russian intelligence services. Kev also quoted Aidan Quigley of Roll Call who shows us how little time there is to avoid a government shutdown. Kev quoted Elizabeth Wellington of The Philadelphia Inquirer about the nasty guy and his golden sneakers. It seems he’s trying to cash in on black sneaker culture. And, since the first batch sold out, perhaps it’s working (though that does not imply black people bought them). Down in the comments there are several cartoons about the nasty guy and his golden sneakers. There’s also a tweet by BMB Empower Network with a Fox News clip with white people declaring how smart the nasty guy is in coming out with sneakers and thus getting black people to vote for him. Black people responded, saying to think we’ll fall for that is pretty dumb. Mike Luckovich posted a cartoon showing a boy in bed with a green monster labeled “GOP” under it. The boy says, “You used to protect me from monsters under my bed...”